Monday, July 24, 2017

The White Wolf

One of my favorite series here lately has been "The Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski. My wife introduced me to the book series as well as the video games back when we were dating. Sadly the books have not been completely translated into English so I have not had the chance to finish reading them yet. My wife, on the other hand, completed the series years ago because they were translated into Russian a long time ago. Part of my wife educating me in the Witcher universe, was also watching the Polish series Wiedźmin staring Michal Zebrowski as Geralt of Rivia.

So needless to say I am a Witcher fan. About a year or so ago I started thinking about how to play the Witcher in miniature. It was my search for potential rules that actually had me end up supporting the "Open Combat" kickstarter. Then it was the search for miniatures. It was in the Darksword Game of Thrones miniature range that I found a figure I liked for Geralt. Then it kind of stalled... But now there is a lot of new hype since Netflix has decided to do their own live action version. This of course got me motivated to make some progress on my own designs.

Geralt of Rivia was taken from his family at an early age to the stronghold Kaer Morhen to under-go the training to become a Witcher. Part of the training involves the Trial of Grasses were the trainees are subjected to harsh toxins and chemicals that cause genetic mutation.

There is a very high mortality rate among the trainees, but those who survive will be better equipped for fighting against monsters. The results give them super human strength and agility. Learning some magic spells also enhances their arsenal of weapons and defenses.

Geralt was very resistant to the Trial of Grasses and so was able to be subjected to even harsher doses making him quite the exceptional Witcher. The results have made him one of the best and most successful Witchers. The side-effect of these extra trials was the loss of pigmentation in his body causing him to have pale skin and white hair.

Because of his pale complexion he is known in the Elder Speech as "Gwynbleidd", the White Wolf. There are several schools of Witchers, but Kaer Morhen is the Wolf school. Each Witcher has a wolf medallion he wears to signify his position, but it also vibrates to let the Witcher know when magic is nearby.

From Kaer Morhen, Geralt goes out into the world to become a full-fledged monster hunter. Being a Witcher doesn't pay well and he finds he is not well liked or trusted by the humans he seeks to protect.

But when monsters appear and start killing people or livestock, then everyone wants to have a Witcher in their town.

Once the monster is slain, he gets paid and often finds he is not wanted in town any longer. Thus continues the trek to the next town in need for our hero. Sometimes the monsters turn out to be the good and helpful kind, while the humans turn out to be the evil and true monsters. The tales of Geralt are always interesting and thought provoking.

There was also Pen & Paper RPG - Wiedźmin: Gra wyobraźni And really really "cheap looking" TV Series (looks more like fan production that made by profesional studio)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hexer_(TV_series)